Publications

Publications

Academic Book 

• Weiss-Blatt, N. (2021). The Techlash and Tech Crisis Communication. pp. 208. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Limited. TechlashBook.com

Invited Book Chapters

• Weiss-Blatt, N. (2016). Role of tech bloggers in the flow of information. In: L. Guo & M. McCombs (Eds.), The Power of Information Networks: New Directions for Agenda Setting. pp. 88-103. New York: Routledge. In Routledge / In Google Books

  

• Weimann, G., Weiss-Blatt, N., Mengistu, G., Mazor, M. & Oren, R. (2016). Reevaluating "The End of Mass Communication?" In: R. Wei (Ed.), Refining Milestone Mass Communications Theories for the 21^st Century. pp. 155-181. New York: Routledge. In Routledge / In Amazon

• The 'Milestones' essays in Mass Communication and Society are reflective and analytical articles by the most notable scholars in the field. This book will be essential reading for students and researchers of Mass Communications Research.

 

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles 

• Weiss-Blatt, N. (2017). Agenda-Setting, Two-Step Flow and Tech Blogs: The Role of Tech Bloggers in the Flow of Information. Media Frames: Israeli Journal of Communication, 16 (Spring 2017), 134-142. Israel Communication Association. (in Hebrew).

• Weimann, G., Weiss-Blatt, N., Mengistu, G., Mazor, M. & Oren, R. (2014). Reevaluating "The End of Mass Communication?" Mass Communication and Society, 17(6), 803-829. 

• Ravid, G., Bar-Ilan, J., Baruchson-Arbib, S., Yaari, E., Aharony, N., Rafaeli, S. & Weiss-Blatt, N. (2014). I Just Wanted To Ask?: A Comparison of User Studies of the Citizens Advice Bureau (SHIL) in Israel. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 46(1), 21-31. goo.gl/ZEABiQ

Articles in Conference Proceedings

• Weiss-Blatt, N. (2016). Tech Bloggers vs. Tech Journalists in Innovation Journalism. In: C. Bernadas & D. Minchella (Eds.), Proceedings of The 3rd European Conference on Social Media (ECSM) 2016, pp. 415-423. Publisher: ACPIL- Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited, UK. Printed version ISSN: 2055-7213.

• Ravid, G., Bar-Ilan, J., Baruchson-Arbib, S., Yaari, E., Rafaeli, S. & Weiss, N. (2010). A User Survey of a Site Providing Citizen Information: Preliminary Findings of SHIL.INFO. Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems (MCIS) 2010 Proceedings, pp. 69-91.

Monographs and Reports

• USC Center for Public Relations. (2020). New Activism: 2020 Global Communication Report. USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations. Los Angeles, CA. Download the full 2020 Global Communication Report

• Weiss-Blatt, N. (2019). Surviving the Techlash. The Relevance Report 2020, pp. 58-59. USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations. Los Angeles, CA. Download the full Relevance Report 2020

• USC Center for Public Relations. (2019). 2019 Global Communication Report. PR:tech - The Future of Technology in Communication. USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations. Los Angeles, CA. Download the full 2019 Global Communication Report

• Weiss-Blatt, N. (2018). The Reboot of Tech PR. The Relevance Report 2019, pp. 90-92. USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations. Los Angeles, CA. Download the full Relevance Report 2019

                   

Recent OpEds

I published columns in Techdirt, The Daily Beast, Newsweek, Big Think, and Tech Policy Press:

• Donald Trump caused the Techlash (Techdirt) - Some of my conclusions from the Techlash research. It includes the roots of the shift in coverage and the Tech PR template for crises (how tech companies defended themselves from scrutiny, over and over again, and how it was too backlashed). The story is more nuanced than the headline.

• Why is the Techlash only getting stronger? And what can your brand do about it? (a collaboration with the tech PR agency AxiCom and Protocol).

• Big Tech's Art of Making Up Rules as It Goes Along (Newsweek magazine) - The tech platforms believe they have "more work to do" which "will never be done," but their inconsistent policies can be enforced consistently. "Those of us who chronicle the companies' responses live in a tech-response' Groundhog Day.'"

• Tech Platforms — from "Saving Lives" to "Killing People" (Medium) - This Dichotomous Debate Sucks. Our framing tends to move from one extreme to the other. But do we learn anything?

• There's a Growing Backlash Against Tech's Infamous Secrecy. Why Now? (Techdirt) - For decades, the tech companies praised their secrecy. Now, as they face mounting criticism, their NDAs & off-the-record comments are seen as means of evading responsibility.

• Facebook: Amplifying the Good or the Bad? It's Getting Ugly (Techdirt) - Does Facebook merely reflect (a mirror to the good and ugly) or shape (amplify the bad)? Is it the algorithms' fault or the people who build them or use them? Fix the machine? The societal problems? It all depends on whom you ask.

• TECHLASH 2.0: The Next-Gen Techlash is Bigger, Stronger & Faster (Techdirt) - We moved from a peaceful time (pre-TECHLASH) to a Cold War (TECHLASH 1.0), and now "all Hell breaks loose" (TECHLASH 2.0). The next-gen Techlash is bigger, stronger, and faster - just like the tech companies it's fighting against.

• Can We Compare Dot-Com Bubble To Today's Web3/Blockchain Craze? (Techdirt) - Currently, VCs are aggressively promoting Web3 - Crypto, NFTs, decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, and a bunch of other Blockchain stuff, and they are also getting more pushback. The heated debate sounds all too familiar. There are many similarities between the "Dot-Com Bubble" discussions and today's techno-optimism & techno-pessimism around Web3 and Blockchain.

• What Happens When A Russian Invasion Takes Place In The Social Smartphone Era (Techdirt) - Several days into Russia's attack on Ukraine, we have already witnessed astonishing stories play out online. Social media platforms, after years of Techlash, are once again at the center of a historic event, as it unfolds. Different tech issues are still evolving, but for now, here are the key themes. 

• Tech Journalists as Bullshit Detectors and Hype Slayers (Techdirt) - The way tech journalists report on and criticize technology is evolving. Still, they should serve as bullshit detectors and hype slayers. This guide provides tips for minimizing the overly positive and negative hypes, stopping with "the END of _"/"_ is Dead," and examining the underlying forces.

• Don't Be So Certain Social Media is Undermining Democracy (The Daily Beast) - Prof. Jonathan Haidt, the author of Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid (his answer: social media), published a sequel: Yes, Social Media Really Is Undermining Democracy. These claims are not empirically grounded. We have contradictory findings. Correlation does not imply causation, and many popular narratives about social media harms are overstated.

• The Emerging Tech PR Template for Attacking Whistleblowers (Tech Policy Press) - I compared Twitter's response to its whistleblower, Peiter Zatko, with Facebook's response to Frances Haugen (in 2021). It created this Attack the Whistleblower 101. 

• Bombastic eulogies: Let's put an end to cynical "The End of" headlines (Big Think) - The media has been predicting the end of Amazon, Google, Facebook, and other Big Tech companies for years. Techno-pessimism rules the headlines despite the blatant contradiction with reality. Big Tech's dominant counternarrative is one of continual progress.

• AI Art is Eating the World, and We Need to Discuss Its Wonders and Dangers (Techdirt) - There's a revolution taking place right now in the world of AI-Generated Art. This piece focuses on the booming AI-generated selfies/portraits/profile pictures/avatars, but also discusses the ethical considerations of AI art and its dangers. 

• Generative AI Is Not Our Gateway To Heaven Nor A Frankenstein Monster (The Daily Beast) - Current coverage of Generative AI is strikingly similar to previous AI hype cycles. The debate may seem novel, but it's simply a rehash of the most common media frames associated with AI. We need to cut through the hype, look at the complex reality, and see humans at the helm, not machines.

• Overwhelmed By All The Generative AI Headlines? This Guide Is For You (Techdirt)- There's a strange synergy now between people who hype AI's capabilities and those who thereby create false fears (about those so-called capabilities). It's all overwhelming. But none of this is new. Since we're flooded with news about generative AI's "magic powers," I gathered the "Top 10 AI Frames" from the most positive (pro-AI) to the most negative (anti-AI). My hope is that after reading this, you'll be able to cut through the AI hype.

• The AI Doomers' Playbook (Techdirt) - Why do we see so many doomsday scenarios about AI? Mass media plays a key role in promoting AI Doomers. From "AI Panic Marketing" (Sam Altman) to "Panic-as-a-Business" (Tristan Harris, Eliezer Yudkowsky), there's a clear playbook. 

• Like The Social Dilemma Did, The AI Dilemma Seeks to Mislead You with Misinformation (Techdirt) - The AI Dilemma's Panic-as-a-business: 1. Freaking people out with monstrous AI. 2. Freaking people out with dubious survey stats. 3. Distracting people from the real issues.

• 2023: The Year of AI Panic (Techdirt) - In 2023, the extreme ideology of "human extinction from AI" became one of the most prominent trends. It was followed by extreme regulation proposals. As we enter 2024, let's take a moment to reflect: How did we get here?

• AI Panic Newsletter (Substack):

1. Your Guide to the Top 10 "AI Media Frames"
2. What's Wrong with AI Media Coverage & How to Fix It
3. What Ilya Sutskever Really Wants
4. The AI Panic Campaign - part 1
5. The AI Panic Campaign - part 2
6. Effective Altruism Funded the "AI Existential Risk" Ecosystem with Half a Billion Dollars
7. Ultimate Guide to "AI Existential Risk" Ecosystem
8. The $665M Shitcoin Donation to the Future of Life Institute (Repost on AI Supremacy)

Podcast Interviews

• TWiG (This Week in Google): How tech journalism changed since 2016

YouTube: Full episode | What is the Techlash? | transcript

• Techdirt: How the Techlash happened

transcript

• Innovation Files: How pack journalism and predictable crisis PR responses have influenced the Techlash

ITIF | transcript 

• Business Bookshelf: Dr. Nirit Weiss-Blatt – Author of "The Techlash and Tech Crisis Communication"

transcript

• The PRovoke Media Podcast: The role of communications in Techlash

PodBean | transcript

• Emerald Podcast Series: Understanding the Techlash Era

Google Podcasts | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | transcript

• Tech'ed Up: Big Tech PR: Battling Techlash

Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | transcript

• Keen On: Why the Techlash Has Gone Too Far

Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify 

• Peoples & Things: Nirit Weiss-Blatt on The Techlash and Tech Crisis Communication
  

Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | YouTube

• Tech News Weekly (TWiT network): AI Headlines

Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

• AI Inside (Club TWiT members-only show, exclusive content)

• AI Inside: Follow the Funding of AI Doom

Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | YouTube | Spotify | Acast | iHeart | Patreon

Media Interviews & Quotes

I was quoted in The Washington Post, WIRED, Forbes, VentureBeat, and Engadget:

• My comment about Facebook's rebrand to Meta generated widespread discussion. For example, CNN, BBC, The Guardian, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, The Mercury News, The Week UK, The London Economics, Jerusalem Post.

• An article in Forbes quoted the book for a discussion about the startup's ethical movement: "In the Techlash, Nirit Weiss-Blatt chronicles the change in the nature of media coverage of the tech industry, from fawning admiration to a more critical stance that is slightly more capable of seeing warts in the sector."

• An article in Forbes quoted the book for a discussion about employee well-being: "Various stories of workers revolting against such practices have emerged in books such as The Techlash, by the University of Southern California's Nirit Weiss-Blatt, and Alex Rosenblatt's Uberland, with such stories taking some of the unvarnished veneers off of the march of technology in recent years."

• Alex Kantrowitz, the tech journalist behind "Big Technology" and the author of "Always Day One," published an investigative piece about The soft corruption of Big Tech's Antitrust defense: How companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are funding third parties (millions of dollars) to make their case. In this piece, I pointed out the lack of disclosure.

• FamilyandMedia – an international think-tank with research members from Italy, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile – published a review of my book in three languages: English, Italian, and Spanish. The author of this piece is a marketing expert from Italy, who wrote: "In her book The Techlash and Tech Crisis Communication, she explores how – and through which means – tech companies have responded to the spreading negative sentiments about them and summarizes valuable lessons." 

• In the 2022 Israel Brands Index, Google ranks first. Far behind, at number 123 (!): Facebook. WHY? An interview with Globes - Israel's financial newspaper (in Hebrew & English).

• Engadget featured my response to Andy Stone's fabricated email: "The bizarre saga of Meta, The Wire and their fight over Indian content moderation."

• The Washington Post published an article (by tech reporters Will Oremus and Nitasha Tiku) on how social media content moderation wars are moving into the AI culture war: The right's new culture-war target: 'Woke AI.' My quote concerns Big Tech's failed attempt to avoid those AI-content moderation battles (more context - here).

• In an article for WIRED, Will Knight discussed the "Why They’re Worried” paper (that I reviewed and summarized in this Twitter Thread): “A Letter Prompted Talk of AI Doomsday. Many Who Signed Weren't Actually AI Doomers.” My observation: “Many of the professors who sign those open letters are not worried about existential risk. They have concerns about other issues that have nothing to do with ‘human extinction.’ But they lent their name and credibility to the extreme AI doomers, who are being interviewed about those letters through the lens of X-risk. As a result of this exploitation, the fringe becomes mainstream. That’s the real misinformation here.”

• Sharon Goldman from VentureBeat published an article: “Even OpenAI’s Ilya Sutskever calls deep learning ‘alchemy’” that is based on materials I’ve provided her. It followed other Ilya Sutskever quotes I published in the “AI Panic Newsletter”: “What Ilya Sutskever Really Wants.” “In a transcript from a May 2023 talk in Palo Alto provided to VentureBeat by Nirit Weiss-Blatt, a communications researcher who recently posted quotes from the transcript online, Sutskever said…”

• Erik Sherman published on Forbes a column titled “The Real Economic Problem of AI isn’t Tech but People.” He took Ilya Sutskever’s quotes from my “What Ilya Sutskever Really Wants” post. Then, he added: “There is a lot going on under the surface. Nirit Weiss-Blatt, a communications researcher who focuses on discussions of technology, has referred to ‘AGI utopia vs. potential apocalypse’ ideology’ and how it can be ‘traumatizing.’” (Indeed).

• Andrew Orlowski from the Telegraph published in Spiked magazine about "Why are the elites suddenly so terrified about AI?" and quoted: "In recent years this nerdy utilitarian movement has become obsessed with AI. As author Nirit Weiss-Blatt explains, the policy obsession with AI soon followed, lubricated by some $500 million of effective altruists' money." (Linked to the "Effective Altruism Funded the “AI Existential Risk” Ecosystem with Half a Billion Dollars" piece).

• Quotes during OpenAI's saga: 

- VentureBeat (Matt Marshall): OpenAI’s leadership coup could slam brakes on growth in favor of AI safety

- Investing 101 (Kyle Harrison): The Leaders of Movements

- That Was The Week (Keith Teare): The OpenAI Debacle - e /acc versus e /a

- Frackers (Michiel Frackers): It looks like Sam Altman is returning as CEO at OpenAI

- Slate (Nitish Pahwa): What the Heck Just Happened at OpenAI??

- Fast Company (Chris Stokel-Walker): New OpenAI CEO Emmett Shear’s time at Twitch gives clues to the future of the AI giant

- The Independent (Chris Stokel-Walker): Doomers vs tech boomers: inside OpenAI’s bizarre boardroom battle with the man ‘who can see the future’ (My quote) 

- Le Monde (Alexandre Piquard): ‘The Sam Altman saga shows that AI doomers have lost a battle’

- Om (Om Malik): A Letter from Om. Issue #16/2023

• IEEE Spectrum magazine published an article on the "AI Impacts" survey: "Weighing the Prophecies of AI Doom." I'm quoted about the survey's "red flags" - its methodological issues and how it was covered in the media. "A better representation of this survey would indicate that it was funded, phrased, and analyzed by 'x-risk' effective altruists. Behind 'AI Impacts' and other 'AI Safety' organizations, there's a well-oiled 'x-risk' machine. When the media is covering them, it has to mention it." 

• Scientific American magazine published an article (by Chris Stokel-Walker) on the "AI Impacts" survey and the Effective Altruism movement: "AI Survey Exaggerates Apocalyptic Risks." I'm quoted about how the AI community is uncomfortable with the focus on "Existential Risk": “Nowadays, more and more people are reconsidering letting Effective Altruism [EA] set the agenda for the AI industry and the upcoming AI regulation. EA's reputation is deteriorating, and BACKLASH is coming."

• VentureBeat's Sharon Goldman published an article: “Money and politics continue to merge in AI safety — including a new Super PAC” and quoted the details I posted about Gladstone AI co-founder Eduoard Harris (another AI doomer trying to influence Washington, D.C.).

YouTube Video

• "AI Hype - Explained." A 25-minute version of my presentation on "The Media Coverage of Generative AI."